


Information Distribution

by Ylevihs



Series: How Not to Fall [35]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: EDITH - Freeform, Established Relationship, M/M, Retribution Spoilers, mentions of regina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 12:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21458263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ylevihs/pseuds/Ylevihs
Summary: How do you know that what you know is what everyone else thinks you know?
Relationships: Herald/Sidestep (Fallen Hero), Ortega/Chen
Series: How Not to Fall [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1327892
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Information Distribution

Everything was going to be okay.

Mostly okay.

It tasted like a bad lie, even in his head.

Two of the three people standing behind him were. Weren’t. And Chen wasn’t an enemy. Had to be something more than neutral party now. Was going to be forced into the role of comrade whether either of them were ready for it or not, apparently. It wasn’t hard to slot Chen into the role of ally, to Richard’s utter surprise, as they made their way back to the apartment. Shaky friends. Awkward and uneasy but. Not unkind. Not stand offish, not anymore and not for a long time. How long ago had he stopped thinking of Chen as someone to be afraid of? Probably right around the time he’d.

He and Ricardo talked in low voices behind Daniel’s shoulder and it took more resistance than Richard was willing to admit not to skim the surface of Chen’s thoughts. Probably wouldn’t matter much even if he had given in and tried because. Another far louder mind was thrumming along inside his apartment.

There was a light beat of excitement, gentle and eager, from behind the door when the first lock ‘snicked’ open. A muffled scrabble of claws on tile that quieted just beyond the door. She was easy to train, even without dipping into her mind. Edith was eager to please. Happy to have a home.

Second lock, a susurration behind him. Curious. Cautious. Taking note of the number of locks and why he would need so many and what was behind them and what was going to be discussed as soon as that door opened and obviously Chen’s mind. Richard recoiled as tightly as he could, wanting nothing to do with the thoughts going on inside that head.

This was going to be bad, warned the itching skin on the back of his neck. Bad or worse. Chen was still so much of an unknown. But Chen was trusted by people who knew him better than Richard did and Ricardo would say something wouldn’t he? If Richard was making a terrible choice? Make an awful, groan inducing joke or redirect the conversation or.

Edith’s excitement bled through the door and slipped up in through his sinuses, forcing Richard to sniff. Beside him Danny was doing his best to make neutral conversation. Not an easy task when a heavy blanket of unspoken tension was still weighing down everyone’s shoulders. Or maybe that was just on his own.

If what Richard thought was on that floppy disc that Ricardo had given Chen. Then. May as well get it over with himself. The thought made his stomach turn in miserable dread. Hopefully if he was wrong. If he was wrong, ah beans, hopefully he wasn’t wrong, he could trust Ricardo to stop him before he. But. Third lock. Deadbolt turning. No tape on the edge of this door. Daniel had kept forgetting about it and tearing it loose by accident; Richard had had to learn to leave well enough alone. The tiny mark of chalk that he’d taken to smudging on the carpet by the door however. Undisturbed.

Opened the apartment door to Edith sitting a few feet behind the door, tail wagging furiously and ears forward. Shoulders and hips wiggling with! Her people! And New People with them! Her front paws tapped lightly on the tile as she fought against the thrill and remained sitting. The feeling of it slammed into Richard’s mind like a. He let it, dragging some of the gathering grim off into the corners by the hooks of unfettered canine joy.

“Hey girl,” something in his mind screaming at him for leaving the door open behind him, open to the world, open to. Daniel would close it. That would be alright. Edith wiggled as he walked in. “Did you have a good night?” She rose onto all fours as Richard knelt down to pet her, burying his fingers in the loose curls on her neck and shoulders. The dog in his arms landed a solid one. Two. Three happy licks on his cheek and then the tail was wagging harder, eager for the new! New people. Sniffed the back of Ricardo’s hand who offered an absent pat on the head, chuckling.

“She really does look like an old lady,” and then onto. Edith’s tail went stiff and then slow as she buried her nose against any part of Chen she could reach. Smelling Spoon on his clothes and hands. And then wiggling and licking at his fingers and palms. She beat out waves of approval. Good new people. They smelled like recent food and other dogs.

Strong and open enough that Richard was almost able to back burner the fact that he was going to have to tell Chen. Something. Anything. Ah beans, what did Ricardo put on that disc? What did he mean when he said they could go over it? All of it?

There was a bark of laughter from over his shoulder. “What is that?” Richard knew without having to look up that Ricardo had seen. Over by the side of the armchair, facing the door and the rest of the living room.

“It’s her kennel,” Daniel offered, delight high in his voice. They’d spent the weekend building it, cursing at the flimsy instruction paper and poorly labeled materials. It had been worth it, despite the frustrated muttering and sore thumb and vows to call the ‘customer service line’ and give them a piece of somebody’s mind. Molded pink plastic and soft edged decorations. Little felt flags. There was a side ‘compartment’ with a hinged lid for her to store her toys in, done to look like a storage building. It even had a fake draw bridge in place of a metal wire door.

“It’s a castle?” Chen’s voice had an edge of surprised amusement. Ricardo was snickering openly.

“She’s our princess,” Richard kept his voice as level and serious as possible. The muscles in his face were fighting a losing battle against the smile threatening to take them over. Daniel had found the tacky thing in the pet supply store, over by where they kept dog costumes and other similar tortures. Richard wouldn’t have been able to say no if he’d wanted to. Edith was adorable when she primly folded her paws and snuggled into it. Speaking of, the dog in question had satisfied her need to meet and greet and trotted back over to her dog house, nosing at the toy chest until it opened enough for her to sneak a chew toy out of it.

“And I thought you were bad with how you spoil Spoon,” Ricardo nudged an elbow into Chen’s side with a wide grin. Chen muttered something back about him ‘just not getting it’ with a faint smile of his own. The smile faded slightly.

Richard felt the shift back. The four of them standing just inside his apartment. Well three stood. Daniel hovered slightly. All waiting to see who would take the first step forward. Richard had suggested his apartment because at least there he had some illusion of control. Some measure of safety. Home sweet home because he was convinced there was no way they could sneak anything in. Who knew what was lurking at Ricardo’s apartment? More concerning. More immediately concerning. What was lurking in Ricardo’s mind? What was waiting inside Chen’s?

“I guess I started this,” Ricardo puffed out a hard exhale. “Let’s sit down, so I can finish it,” his face was tight. The shallow lines on his face suddenly seemed deeper and that pip of constant fear in Richard’s throat began sharpening itself into a scalpel. He walked further into the living room without waiting for an invitation and took the same seat he’d been in when Richard had confessed. Which couldn’t have been an accident.

Ah, beans, this was gonna be bad.

Richard took half a step towards the arm chair. Three on the couch and one apart and that was where. Daniel was landing there. Looking at him very pointedly and thoughts swirling in an unmistakable. It’ll be good for you. For him to sit next to Chen. Richard could only hope his face conveyed how unamused he was without outright glaring. It met a brick wall of Daniel folding his legs up and hovering about an inch above the actual arm chair cushion. So. Next to Or—Ricardo on the couch. Or across from him and have Chen be forced to sit between them or. A sudden clear as day and word for word if you sit on the floor Richie I swear to God.

Opposite end of the couch it was, dooming Chen to have to be sandwiched between them. There was a brush from Daniel’s mind to offer to get drinks but it was pushed aside.

Ricardo didn’t give the awkward silence a chance to land.

“Alright,” firm and final, like the first handful of dirt into an open grave. “Daniel and I have found out some things. Some of them are on that disc,” he frowned in the direction of Chen’s gift.

“Not all of them?” a hard edge in Chen’s throat. Richard could sympathize.

“No. Not all of them,” Richard felt his friend’s gaze flicker half an instant onto him. Not everything. Cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless. There was a great deal of information that Ricardo kept to himself. Paranoid in his own way. “We found out more about,” a long pause. “What you were looking into,” Richard allowed himself to be distracted by the production of Chen’s shoulders and back tensing. Civilian hands clenching between his knees. Chen had warned him a while ago that he’d done research after Sidestep had. Hadn’t died. Said the things he found hadn’t lined up. Richard had never gained the courage to dive deeper to find out what those things had been. Chen had never offered them on his own.

Apparently he’d given them to Ricardo.

“You were right,” Ricardo went on and the tightness in Chen’s face folded slightly. Relaxed and then tightened again. Every single fiber of Richard’s being wanted to know what was going on in his head; he twisted his fingers until the knuckles cracked and then some. Right about what? Hardly noticed that he was. Until. Oh. Until Edith padded over and nestled her head against this knees. He’d been digging in with his fingernails, sending stings up the back of his hand. Tiny crescents of torn skin. Richard let his hands move on their own, petting into her fur and letting the calm of her slink up his veins.

The distant brightness of Daniel helped keep some of the shadows back.

“Oh,” a dull pulse of. Pain? Pity. No, not quite but. Alien and unwelcome. Warmth on his. Edith licking his hands. Focused on that. She was a good girl and she was nosing forward. Wanting attention. Wanting to help.

“So. There are some stills from security footage on that disc. The woman you’ll see in them has been working with Senator Carmichael,”

“The politician that Mad Dog has been interested in?” the tone was questioning but the things leaking from his head said that it was confirmation. Chen had been paying attention. Very close attention. And the look was lightning quick but Chen’s eyes darted to. To Richard’s hands. Not to his face because that would be too much of an admission but oh, dear god, had Ricardo?

No. No, he wouldn’t have. He hadn’t said anything. Hadn’t. Wouldn’t have. He wouldn’t have. Ricardo hadn’t sold him out to the farm and he hadn’t sold Mad Dog out to the Marshal and.

“It turns out Mad Dog might have more of an interest in the woman the Senator is meeting with, as those photos will show,” Ricardo’s voice meant it to be open but Chen’s head snapped to attention. “And so will you,” And then his attention stabbed Richard into place on the couch, pretense dropped.

Admission indeed. He’d suspected that Richard was Mad Dog from the second Mad Dog had helped him rescue those civilians at Marconi’s house. Not many people were that tall. Not many people spoke that way. Held themselves that way. And then Mad Dog had been beaten down by Charge and the next time Chen saw him, Richard was black and blue and limping. And if what Richard thought was on that disc really was there. If that hadn’t been the confirmation of his villainous identity then it had been. It wasn’t a green check. Not yet. But it also wasn’t a great big red x.

Something worse. Something.

Ha. Which was worse? Chen knowing he was Mad Dog or Chen being kept in the dark? Not knowing entirely about Mad Dog. Apparently having trouble believing it. Suspicion played in with something else. Hopeful doubt. Wanting to believe that neither Ricardo nor Daniel would be so stupid as to. Tempered back. Down. Because Chen also didn’t want to believe it because he wanted to believe that Richard. Was in the same place as him. That same unsteady zone of almost friends.

Richard couldn’t name the expression on Chen’s face and had no desire to try. If not for the dog trying to climb into his lap he would have been halfway out of the apartment already. Daniel wasn’t blocking the exit this time but Edith was doing a stellar job of. She had both front paws up on his legs and was putting gentle pressure there. Up. Please? Wanting up onto him.

Mercifully Chen looked away. Something was edging up through his throat and Richard swallowed it down hard. Nothing had been really said. Nothing damning beyond Ricardo letting Chen know that. Jesus. So Chen had told Ricardo his theories and Ricardo must have sat there and lied for him. Lied about him. Lied until he thought the time was right and.

“Why do this now, Ricardo?” it was Richard’s own voice but there was a spike from the man beside him that Chen had been thinking the same. Why now? “What did you find?” what had Regina let them find? Ricardo wasn’t stupid. He must have known that information was planted there for him to find. So what on earth did he find that was worth bringing it forward? Playing into their hand? What was she planning that made Ricardo think it was necessary to involve Chen?

“Mad Dog,” Ricardo hesitated, either seeing something on Chen’s or Richard’s own face to make him pause. “Contacted Mia Ochoa to investigate the Senator on his behalf. The night of our latest fight. And I managed to meet up with her not long ago. Carmichael’s husband is a glorified arms dealer,” which Richard knew, but gained a raised eyebrow from Chen. The company he ran had private contracts with the military and the farm, both. “The Senator puts pressure on her fellow politicians to keep conflicts fresh and interesting in the name of “national security”, and her husband makes a pretty penny by selling weapons to the US army. Sometimes. Sometimes he sells to the other side as well,” which was technically treason, if any such thing mattered anymore.

“What does that have to do with this?” Chen tapped the edge of the gift box. “And why do you think Mad Dog cares?” unsettled attention towards Richard. Really not wanting to believe it. Not until he heard it. The juxtaposition between what he had come to know Richard to be like, versus how Sidestep had been, versus how Mad Dog behaved. But. Richard could feel the things adding up in Chen’s head beside him and worked not to vomit at the way his stomach rolled.

“Because the woman,” Richard felt his mouth moving without his consent. Speaking soft to keep from screaming. Chen’s eyes were on him, attention undivided as soon as he had started speaking. “The woman in those photos also makes…supplies for the US army. And anyone interested in and wealthy enough to be buying. Senator Carmichael must be arguing very nicely in the Senate to get government funding sent her way,” he flicked up his gaze just in time to see Ricardo nodding. He also caught.

Chen’s mind rapidly reordering something. Picking up on. Sidestep and Charge had always been a dynamic duo and it would make sense for Richard to be beaten to a pulp after a fight with Mad Dog and Charge. If it had been Mad Dog. And Charge. And the retired vigilante at his side. Clinging to something that could make sense without having to admit that Los Diablos’ most annoying headliner was seated beside him.

Richard pulled back hard enough to give himself mental whiplash, throat going dry. Daniel shifted and landed on the arm chair, face crinkling together in a wince.

“She is,” Daniel said. “And, as it turns out, Mad Dog has a personal grudge against that woman,” he spoke slow and measured. “So when he found out Carmichael was in town,”

“He suspected the other woman was as well,” Chen finished for him. “And I gather that what I find on that disc will tie all of that together?” whatever look he sent Ricardo made Ricardo’s lip twitch.

“It will. Mostly,” he added on. “It might also…illuminate a few extra things,” which was met with a shallow hum.

When Chen spoke next, his voice was grim. Firm and solid as if coming to a conclusion that he didn’t want to make. “So, those are the marching orders?” his voice was suddenly tinged with something. Bitter? What? “We’ve got to stop Mad Dog from killing this woman and the Senator?”

Richard felt his mind dip, a sudden drop on a roller coaster. Daniel blinked rapidly and was rising up a little from the chair and Ricardo’s mouth dropped a fraction open.

“N…no,” he shook his head, stunned into slowness. And then coming to the same realization that Richard had. Chen not only didn’t believe that Richard was Mad Dog, he was desperate to believe anything else until an admission told him otherwise. “No. You’ve got it backwards,” Chen’s mouth twisted downward, eyebrows lifting high. “We’ve got to stop them from killing Mad Dog,”

**Author's Note:**

> Ive decided to no longer make eye contact. Eyes are for looking, not touching.


End file.
